T-Minus 258 Days: Purging Halloween

 We pulled out the Halloween decorations to decorate the house for the last time. I have decorated this house for Halloween 17 times, and this is the last time. I would like to say I'm sentimental about this, but I'm not. Either it really hasn't hit me, or, I think about how happy I will be in Florida instead of dwelling on these final moments.

We decided that any decorations we didn't use we would sell immediately so that others could decorate their house this year. The best time to sell Halloween items is before Halloween, not after. 

This presented some difficult decisions. We have these large ceramic pumpkins that I love to decorate with, but they will never survive a trip to Florida without breaking. If I decorate with them this year it means I won't be able to sell them. But if I sell them instead of decorate with them? I could maximize the amount of money I could make.

In the end, I decided to decorate with them. Other decorations? Went to the Facebook Marketplace and sold quickly.

I think we have kept nearly every Halloween costume our kids have ever warn. We have a Halloween Costumes tote in Tub City with two dozen outfits. 

Perhaps I can sell the costumes BEFORE Halloween (because for certain, no one is likely to buy them AFTER Halloween). Costumes that I paid $30-$40 and were warn for a few hours on one night are now sadly for sale for only $5. 

I listed the Halloween items on Maketplace three weeks before Halloween. Perhaps I should have done it sooner? I'm not sure. But one thing is for sure: I am going to get the other holiday stuff posted four weeks before the holiday. 

Also... I'm considering posting the items I decorate with, but put a really good price on it. If someone wants to buy it? I'll take the decoration down, put it in a bag, and sell it. That's a difficult decision, but, maybe I should just do it.

One item I decorate with is Spiders: giant spiders and huge spiders all over the house. I have thought about taking these with me to Florida. However, according to the stories I have heard, the real spiders in Florida are larger, so, I probably don't need them.

T-Minus 263 Days: Disney YouTubers

 

In 2011, I used a video streaming service named LiveStream. With this service, I could use my cell phone data plan and the camera on my cell phone to broadcast live events where ever I wanted to.  I used it for various things, but something important I used it for was our 2011 trip to Disney World. 

 

I live-streamed my wife and I renewing of wedding vows from atop the train station overlooking Mainstreet USA. I live streamed walking around Frontierland at the Magic Kingdom and watching a parade go by. And I live-streamed the Disney fireworks.

 

The audience wasn’t very big - just a few friends. But that was OK. Just the idea of being able to share Disney World from across the Internet with other people was mind blowing.

 

Fast forward a few years...

 

In 2013, YouTube started opening livestream. Shortly thereafter, Disney introduced free Internet Wifi to their parks. Today, there is a flood of “you tubers” broadcasting live from the parks every day. Some have a few hundred viewers and some have many thousand. In fact, just about anytime you are feeling some Disney withdrawal? You can probably follow along with some YouTube as they explore the park. 

 

ResortTV1 is my favorite and is, in my opinion, the leader. Here, a brother and sister take turns visiting the parks, sharing their adventures, answering questions, and providing trivia. 

 

There are others including the CrazyDisneyLady, WD News Today, Corey Meets World, Earsom Emporium, Drew in the Moment, and more.

 

If you visit Disney World, it is likely you’ll see someone walking around holding a camera and seemingly talking to themselves. In actuality, they are talking to hundreds of people. Those people show their appreciation by replying with “Super Chats”. This is money that fans send to the Youtubers to help support their work.

I'm not trying to say that I was the first Disney Youtuber. I'm sure there were others broadcasting live from Disney before me. But I'm sure I was one of the first because I was doing it before YouTube streaming and before the park had Wifi. Regardless, I love this trend. If I have a bad day at work, or, just need a pick-me-up? I stream something from Disney and it almost feels like I am actually there.

T-Minus 268 Days: Tub City Update

 Our purging effort is chipping away at Tub City.

65 Empty totes

25 Holiday Totes

12 Marketplace Totes

15 Packed and ready for move

133 Totes yet to go!

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250 Totes total

T-Minus 278 Days: All Of Our Possessions

 Today's Video: https://youtu.be/J_onNg4HJ_w

T-Minus 280 Days: ResortTV1

 What do you do when you can't go to Disney whenever you want? One idea is to tune into Resort TV1 on YouTube. They go live on a regular basis. But even when they aren't live, their replays are incredible. The ResortTV1 members (a brother (Josh) and sister (Jenna)) visit the parks and walk around with a camera, filming the parades and rides at 4K as they go. 

They also visit Universal Studios

My favorite is the VLOG Strolls where Josh walks around and narrates what we are seeing. Josh is an expert, so, it is like having your own private tour of the park!

Check them out:

https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCAjpFyA7FCRoGOuj5i4kq9g

T-Minus 281 Days: Property Taxes

 New York has high property taxes. My property taxes are more than my mortgage payment! So, I'm looking forward to moving to Florida for some cheaper property taxes. I will take all that exta money I am giving to the government and turn it into equity!

The taxes are cheaper in Florida versus New York, however... lets not get ahead of ourselves. The property taxes are not free and might not be even as good as you are dreaming about. Lake County Florida (the home of Clermont), for example, has some of the highest median property taxes in the United States.

There are ways to reduce a Florida Property Tax. The Homestead exception will save a lot of money. If the Florida house is your primary residence, you can take $25K of the first $50K off on your taxed amount.  And seniors 65 and over get a Senior Exemption that further lowers the tax burden.

I looked at one house in Clermont Florida. According to the Property Tax Calculator, the taxes should have been around $2600. Instead, the taxes for this particular property were over $5200! 

How could that be? I did some research and obtained a breakdown of the taxes:

Lake County Bcc General Fund of $1,497

Lake County Mstu Ambulance $137

School Board State $1,146

School Board Local $885

City of Clermont $1,241

St Johns River FL Water Management $71

Lake County Debt Services $32

Lake County Water Authority $105

South Lake Hospital District $174

And then... don't forget the $732 HOA fees, which are kinda like a property tax, bring you to $6,000/year

And BAM! You are paying 2% of your home value every year in taxes. That is cheaper than what I pay in New York... but not free. And not anywhere near what the Property Tax Calculator came up with.

The tax rate is more than a third cheaper than New York, however, the home value will be about a third more expensive! While I will save some money, it won't be a life changing amount of money. 

T-Minus 283 Days: A New Home Requirement

 Most Florida houses sit on .25 acres. They pack the houses into subdivisions with about enough room between the houses to allow you to open your window and almost touch your neighbor's house.

My wife has realized that we have a large dog, a Labrador. Unless we want to take the dog for a walk three times per day, we need a yard. The other day, she said to me "You have to tell the real estate agent that we want half an acre so the dog can be outside. And it needs to be fenced in."

Half an acre? We have half an acre for our New York home. It is nice, but, half an acre in a Florida subdivision is not a common thing. The requirement is going to severely cut our options. And a lot size that large could add $10K or more to the house! What is the dog going to do to earn $10K to pay for all this extra yard? I can't charge the dog rent.

Half an acrea.... Oh my God.